Senate Wary Of Gulf Escalation

It Questions Navy Guard For Kuwaitis

May 22, 1987|By Terry Atlas, Chicago Tribune.

WASHINGTON — The Senate, displaying anxiety about extending the U.S. naval role in the dangerous Persian Gulf, voted overwhelmingly Thursday to demand more information from the Pentagon before the administration proceeds with its plan to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers from attack by Iran.

Despite the sentiment on Capitol Hill, President Reagan reasserted U.S. determination Thursday to protect shipping in the gulf.

``This week we were given a grim reminder of the human cost of our national security,`` Reagan said in remarks to energy industry executives.

``As we grieve the loss of our brave sons, let no one doubt our resolve to protect our vital interests in the Persian Gulf or anywhere else.``

The State Department`s top Middle East expert, Richard Murphy, expressed doubt that Iran would intentionally attack American-protected ships in the gulf because it is already locked in a war with Iraq and ``would be reluctant to initiate actions that could provoke a second`` conflict with the United States.

But, he added, ``we cannot be totally sure of anything where Iran is concerned.``

That uncertainty prompted the Senate to demand by a vote of 91-5 that the administation advise it more fully of the risks involved in its military plans for the Persian Gulf and the actions U.S. forces, if threatened, could take to defend themselves.

The measure, sponsored by Majority Leader Robert Byrd (D., W.Va.) and Minority Leader Bob Dole (R., Kan.), does not have the force of law.

Although Thursday`s action was directed at the presumed threat from Iran, it was prompted in part at least by new concern arising from the Iraqi attack on the frigate Stark, which killed 37 American seamen.

On Friday, the President and Mrs. Reagan will fly to Mayport Naval Station near Jacksonville, Fla., for a memorial service with relatives of the sailors killed in Sunday`s attack.

At the State Department, meanwhile, spokesman Charles Redman said U.S. investigators will leave for Baghdad shortly to take part with Iraq in a joint investigation of the apparently accidental attack on the U.S. vessel.

The U.S. team wants to interview the Iraqi pilot whose jet fired on the Stark. ``We will be sharing with the Iraqis our own version of the incident and would expect the Iraqis to do the same with us,`` Redman said.

The U.S. team is also expected to discuss the issue of reparations to be paid by the government of Iraq.

In a related development, White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the administration was postponing its plans to sell new F-15 jets to Saudi Arabia, to replace those lost in accidents.

The anticipated sale of 12 to 15 jets for $500 million was already in trouble in Congress because of strong opposition from the pro-Israel lobby. New opposition arose this week when it was learned that the pilots of two Saudi F-15s did not carry out an American request to intercept the Iraqi F-1 Mirage that fired on the Stark Sunday. The Saudis blamed a delay in getting authorization from the controllers and a shortage of fuel in their jets.

The administration has said it plans to begin providing U.S. military protection to 11 Kuwaiti oil tankers as soon as they begin flying the American flag and carrying an American captain, which could be within weeks.

The action will increase the U.S. military role in the gulf, where now no more than 8 to 10 U.S.-flag commercial ships a month move under the protection of American naval forces, and will draw U.S. warships for the first time into the particularly dangerous northern gulf.

After the crippling of the Stark, the Navy on Thursday extended the tour of duty of one of seven U.S. warships, the guided missile frigate Groves, in the gulf.

Pentagon officials said they were interested in talking with Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and perhaps other countries about possible joint protection of shipping in the gulf. Administration officials said the possibility of an allied air umbrella of jet fighters was one option being studied by military planners.

Pentagon spokesman Bob Sims said the U.S., which maintains an aircraft carrier in the northern Arabian Sea, would not move it into the Persian Gulf, where Iran and Iraq have been conducting attacks on shipping in their so-called ``tanker war.``

``We can fly aircraft from a carrier over the Persian Gulf area while operating outside the gulf, if that is called for,`` he said.

The Senate, in its amendment to a $9.4 billion, catch-all appropriation bill, called on the administration to report on the risks of American military operations in the gulf and on the rules of engagement that would be followed by U.S. forces operating there. It also asked the administration to report on cooperative measures being taken with allies to protect the vital flow of oil from the gulf.

``The administration . . . needs to demonstrate an overall coherent strategy for accomplishing this mission with more than a questionable margin of security,`` said Byrd.